Wanted : Cooking gas not laughing gas ! Glaring discrepancies
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 09 2015 -
Wanted : Cooking gas not laughing gas ! :: Pix - TSE
Lies and more lies. The discrepancies are just too obvious to miss the eye.
Some getting more than 20 refilled LPG cylinders against the mandated 12 in a year while some are hard pressed to receive two or three cylinders in the same period.
The pattern behind the thriving sale of filled LPG cylinders in the black market is slowly emerging.
More than indicative that it is not only those who directly sell filled LPG cylinders in the black market who are making a neat profit but most probably even those directly responsible in managing the gas agencies.
How else can one explain the blatant manipulation of records ?
In the last two editions of The Sangai Express it has been reported that some gas agencies, in their report to the IOC, had submitted that all those who booked for their refills till December 5 and earlier have been allotted their refills, while the reality tells a completely different story.
So where did the stock disappear ?
And what are the gains in submitting fudged records to the IOC ? It should be obvious to all.
It was not for nothing why The Sangai Express took up the task of launching a drive under the slogan, WANTED : Cooking Gas Not Laughing Gas.
Comical it is to see that while numerous kitchens are forced to rely on the kerosene stove or the firewood as their cooking gas had run out, the black market is awash with filled LPG cylinders.
Equally comical it is to see numerous road side kiosks or pan dukans as it is known in the local parlance, openly selling filled LPG cylinders in the black while numerous consumers are left high and dry.
The shortage however is no laughing matter.
The acute shortage of cooking gas in the gas agencies and its abundance in the black market should have been more than enough to rouse the IOC and the State Government to initiate some sort of a probe, but nothing was done along this line.
Was it a case of the higher authorities believing all the records submitted by the respective gas agencies or was it a case of sheer indifference ?
Not the time to pussyfoot the issue but get down to the business of making sure that the subsidised LPG cylinders go to the targeted people.
No room should be given to dilute the real meaning of ‘subsidised’ and this is where the IOC may start inspecting the list of consumers and see whether there are any highly placed Government officials and Ministers or MLAs who are enjoying the benefits given by the Government to the poorer sections of society.
Interesting it would be to see if any of the 12 Ministers or any of the 60 MLAs or any of the highly placed Government officials are availing the subsidised LPG cylinders or not.
Such a step will go a long way in demonstrating that the Government means business.
For starters, the IOC may make the reports submitted by the different gas agencies public so that the public know the inputs submitted by the different gas agencies.
Also time to start inquiring why the subsidised amount has not reached the bank accounts of some consumers.
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